The Book of Boba Fettis considered one ofStar Wars’worst TV showsby some, yet thisStar Warsstory improved the Skywalker Saga in one rather profound way, and I was genuinely glad to see it. While a show being ‘the worst’ is subjective, there are some concrete numbers that indicate this show wasStar Wars’worst performer.
As just one metric, on theRotten Tomatoes ranking ofStar Warsshows,The Book of Boba Fettis dead-last for DisneyStar Wars, coming in below every season of shows likeStar Wars: The Clone WarsandStar Wars Rebels. However, those numbers don’t reflect howThe Book of Boba Fettimproved the Skywalker Saga with one key choice.
The Book of Boba Fett Finally Treated The Sand People As People
While it may seem like a minor choice, it was actually quite significant thatThe Book of Boba Fettchose to humanize the Tusken Raiders. ThroughoutStar Warsmovies and TV shows, though particularly the movies of the Skywalker Saga, the Tusken Raiders were treated as less than human and little more than faceless, violent barbarians.
This was most clear inStar Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Cloneswhen the Tuskens captured, tortured, and ultimately killed Anakin Skywalker’s mother, Shmi, for seemingly no reason at all. It was also apparent that Anakin saw them as sub-human given he directly called them"animals"and said he"slaughtered them like animals."
Yet,The Book of Boba Fettshowed Boba Fett working alongside the Tusken Raiders and communicating with them, making it clear that there was more to them. This actually built upon theMandalorianseason 2 decision to show a different side to the Tuskens.
This Reflects A Larger Positive Change in Star Wars
This change was a great step for the Tusken Raiders specifically inStar Wars, but it also reflects a much larger shift inStar Wars, and it’s absolutely one for the better. With the Tuskens, they went from an extreme stereotype that gave them little depth or complexity, if any at all, to more fully-fleshed out beings.
We have seen the same stereotyping and dehumanizing of other characters inStar Warsas well, going equally far back in the franchise’s history.One of the most prominent examples was the depiction of Twi’leks, which saw them consistently in a highly-sexualized role, beginning with Oola, one of Jabba’s dancers inReturn of the Jedi.
We have seen the same stereotyping and dehumanizing of other characters inStar Warsas well.
Even when we got to see a Twi’lek Jedi with Aayla Secura in the prequel trilogy, she still had a bewilderingly revealing outfit, which seems far from the norm for other Jedi Knights. Thankfully,Star Warshas fixed this Twi’lek mistakewith characters like Hera Syndulla inRebels, who has complete agency and is not sexualized in the same way.
The change to both Tusken Raiders and Twi’leks hopefully means thatStar Warsis being more mindful of how this stereotyping can be harmful, even when it is about fictitious groups. That may not change everyone’s mind onThe Book of Boba Fett, but it is an aspect of the show that deserves more attention.
